Feb. 28, 2009
Box Score
Photo Gallery
Washington, D.C. - A nine-point lead wasn't enough Saturday afternoon as the Georgetown University women's basketball team fell, 58-53, to the Villanova University Wildcats (18-11, 10-5 BIG EAST) after a tough stretch in the second half. The Hoyas seemed to be in control for much of the contest but a late defensive lapse halted GU's four-game win streak. GU is now 17-11 overall and 7-8 in the BIG EAST as the team gears up for its final regular-season game against Seton Hall on Monday night.
Georgetown got on the board first after a three from sophomore Monica McNutt (Suitland, Md./Academy of the Holy Cross) as the Hoyas tried to keep the pace up on the methodical Wildcats. GU then put together a 7-0 run, but unfortunately `Nova came back with a matching run to tie the score at 14 with 7:28 remaining. The lead went back-and-forth between the squads with the Hoyas never finding the defensive stops to pull away.
In the last two minutes of the half, McNutt hit a big three to put Georgetown up by five. Seconds later, Shanice Fuller (Chesapeake, Va./Indian River) swished a jumper to make the score 26-22 going into the half.
Karee Houlette (Houston, Texas/Cypress Springs) led the Hoyas with eight points in the first while McNutt contributed six. Jaleesa Butler (St. Louis, Mo./Alton) had a team-high five rebounds. Georgetown shot 31 percent in the first and had just three turnovers while forcing eight by the Wildcats. The Hoyas made the most of those mistakes with eight points off of turnovers in the first half.
Georgetown looked like two different teams in the second half. The Hoyas opened the half strong and in control going up by as much as nine at the 12:22 mark thanks to six points from Butler and four from Houlette. However, the tide was about to change as Georgetown went cold on the offensive end and gave up some layups on defense.
GU allowed a 16-1 run spanning over seven minutes to give the Wildcats a six-point lead. Latia Magee (Jenks, Okla./Jenks) hit a pair of free throws at 3:25, but the damage had been done as the Hoyas went over ten minutes without a field goal late in the second. Finally at 1:58, Magee made a layup to pull GU within four. From that point on it was an all-out battle but Villanova had the upper hand and connected on free throws. At the final buzzer, the Hoyas had fallen by a score of 58-53.
Butler led the team in both points and rebounds with 18 and eight, respectively. Houlette contributed 12 points and Fuller had five rebounds. Georgetown was out-rebounded by one (32-31), but had a season-low eight turnovers while forcing 15 by the `Cats. GU shot 33 percent in the game while Villanova managed to hit 46.7 percent from the field.
The game marked GU's final regular-season home contest at McDonough Arena and Senior Day for Houlette, Krystle Hatton (St. Louis, Mo./Hazelwood East), Beata Widding (Malmo, Sweden/Langhaugen Vidergaende) and manager JoJo Macyzk.
Georgetown will close out the regular season with a game at Seton Hall on Monday evening at 7 p.m. Live stats and webcast will be available at www.GUHoyas.com.
